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I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

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Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#51

Post by jonathanlb »

camdenreslink wrote: post #22
microflash wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> some web UIs nowadays are so bad and the app so good that I'm not sure this always holds true. This is by design to force you install the app. Most of these days, I just treat it as a signal to neither use the app nor the website.

Reddit comes to mind. I have so many issues with their mobile website. The back button has been broken for years, comments will frequently just hang as loading indefinitely (only fixable with a hard refresh), videos will sometimes not be replayable, sometimes if you change the zoom on the page it will just hard refresh, etc. I'm not sure if it is intentional to push you to the mobile app, but I have to imagine the mo…

Thankfully, old.reddit.com as a default option still works.

The kicker is that the text is so small and to make the site usable (and readable) you need to rotate your phone to landscape mode.

This works well enough that I haven't downloaded the reddit mobile app or used their mobile site ever since they killed Apollo.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#52

Post by Larrikin »

everdrive wrote: post #2

And if the only option is an app, then I'm not interested in your product / store / company.

If the app can be replaced by a website the app is useless. The web is not as powerful as an app and you will miss out on emerging tech. Facebook doesn't actually need an app, but I can not unlock my door, tap to pay, or connect to a specific selection of speakers in my home on a website.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#53

Post by tannedNerd »

empyrrhicist wrote: post #35

If a website disrespects "request desktop site" and still tries to force you into an app... ugh. Had this happen yesterday when someone sent me a link to something on AllTrails. If the service was good and the website was usable, I might have even considered getting the app for offline features. Not anymore - screw companies that do this.

Why though?

If only 1% of your user base is accessing your maps through the website, you aren’t going to keep supporting it.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#54

Post by KellyCriterion »

8cvor6j844qw_d6 wrote: post #13

Web browser is a sandbox by default. Worst a sketchy site does is eat a tab, less if you run an adblocker. Native app? Background processes, hardware ID shenanigans, your contacts, location. The whole buffet.

Location can also be extracted by JS on a website with these geo functions, IIRC?

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#55

Post by raverbashing »

One very egregious example: Moovit

Even with mobile FF and adblock their mobile website is completely unusable. Now ask me if I'm happy to download ther app if their website is a complete POS like that

The desktop website works "fine" for the most part though

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#57

Post by tbolt »

Agree with the article. I’m increasingly jaded by the state of the web.

Something that has been happening for a long time on iOS Safari that I only recently realized: pinch to zoom on sites like Reddit, instagram, shopping sites, and many others cause what I’m calling “website seizures.” Where I try to zoom in and half the time the page reloads completely or triggers a reload but ends up throwing an error.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#58

Post by duped »

happyopossum wrote: post #32
8cvor6j844qw_d6 wrote: post #13

Web browser is a sandbox by default. Worst a sketchy site does is eat a tab, less if you run an adblocker. Native app? Background processes, hardware ID shenanigans, your contacts, location. The whole buffet.

> your contacts, location. The whole buffet. It's not like an app is getting those without your knowledge, and many times it's useful for an app to have your contacts or location...

Almost never is it useful for an app to have my contacts or location.

That said only on some platforms is it possible to stop a native app from getting them.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#59

Post by plagiarist »

jedberg wrote: post #24

While I sympathize with the author, and feel the same way, I think Apple/Google have some blame here. They make certain simple things only possible in the apps, because the APIs are not exposed via the web. Notifications is a big obvious one. Not sure if they've changed it since I last looked into it, but having an app installed was the only way to send a notification to someone for a long time.

That's one of the main reasons to not install an app. Extremely few apps are able to limit their notifications to actually transactional events. As soon as they have the capability they start spamming away.

Re: I won't download your app. The web version is a-ok

#60

Post by karimf »

This is my stance as well, but keep in mind that a lot of people have the opposite preference.

They didn't grow up with the world wide web. They only started using technology when Android and iPhone was popular. They only know Whatsapp, Youtube, TikTok. They're not used to using the browser.

There's a meme that "Gen Z Kids Don't Understand How File Systems Work" [0]

So, it'll depend on your target audiences.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30253526

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